best online backup for mac and multiple hard drives

If you are adding two disks, now is the time to get the second disk running. The backup will proceed normally, backing up all the Time Machine-eligible files. Now you need to wait for Time Machine to start. Obviously, you want to use both disks, so choose “Use Both” from the options.ĩ. It will do so with a warning box, asking if you want to replace your existing Time Machine backup and backup drive or if you want to use both disks. If you already have a Time Machine drive, your Mac will complain slightly about this state of affairs. You want to create a complete Time Machine backup on one disk before connecting a different disk.Ĩ. If you are adding more than one drive to your Time Machine setup, don’t try to connect each at the same time.

Open the “Time Machine” preference pane in “System Preferences.” Temporarily turn Time Machine off by unchecking “Back Up Automatically.”

Once Time Machine is sleeping peacefully, you can connect your disks.Ĥ. You can see the current status of your backup by clicking the Time Machine menu bar icon.ģ. If so, you should wait for the backup to complete even after all this time, Time Machine doesn’t handle interruptions very gracefully. Before you do anything in Time Machine, you always need to see if there is a backup happening at the same time. When your disks are formatted, they’ll be eligible to be Time Machine backup drives. APFS is the better of the two formats, so choose that if you have the option.Ģ. First, you’ll need to format the disks as APFS (Apple File System) or HFS+ (macOS Extended Journaled). The process is essentially the same whether you’re adding a new disk to an existing Time Machine setup or starting fresh with two empty hard drives.ġ.

Best online backup for mac and multiple hard drives